Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/533

Rh M I S M I S 511 response &quot;Qui feoit,&quot; is followed by the &quot;Confiteor,&quot; 1 said alter nately by the priest and by the attendants, who in turn respond with the prayer for divine forgiveness, &quot; Misereatur.&quot; The priest then gives the absolution (&quot; Indulgentiam &quot;), and after the versicles and responses beginning &quot; Deus, tu con versus &quot; he audibly says, &quot;Oremus,&quot; and ascending to the altar silently offers two short prayers, one asking for forgiveness and liberty of access through Christ, and another indulgence for himself &quot;through the merits of thy saints whose relics are here.&quot; Receiving the thurible from the deacon he incenses the altar, and is thereafter himself incensed by the deacon. He then reads the Introit, which is also sung by the choir ; the &quot; Kyrie Eleison &quot; is then said, after which the words &quot; Gloria iu Excelsis &quot; are sung by the celebrant and the rest of the hymn completed by the choir. 2. Kissing the altar, and turning to the people with the formula &quot; Dominus vobiscum,&quot; the celebrant proceeds with the collect or col lects proper to the season or day, which are read secretly. The epistle for the day is then read by the subdeacon, and is followed by the gradual, tract, alleluia, or sequence, according to the time. 3 This finished, the deacon places the book of the gospels on the altar, and the celebrant blesses the incense. The deacon kneels before the altar and offers the prayer &quot;Munda cor meum,&quot; after wards takes the book from the altar, and kneeling before the celebrant asks his blessing, which he receives with the words &quot; Dominus sit in corde tuo.&quot; Having kissed the hand of the priest, he goes accompanied by acolytes with incense and lighted candles to the pulpit, and with a &quot; Dominus vobiscum&quot; and minutely pre scribed crossings and incensings gives out and reads the gospel for the day, at the close of which &quot; Laus tibi, Christe &quot; is said, and the book is brought to the celebrant and kissed with the words &quot; Per evan- golica dicta deleantur nostra delicta. &quot; The celebrant then standing at the middle of the altar sings the words &quot; Credo in unum Deum,&quot; ami the rest of the Nicene creed is sung by the choir. 4 3. With &quot;Dominus vobiscum&quot; and &quot;Oremus&quot; the celebrant proceeds to read the Offertory, which is also sung by the choir. This finished he receives the paten with the host from the deacon, and after offering the host with the prayer beginning &quot; Suscipe, Sancte Pater &quot; places it upon the corporal. The deacon then ministers wine and the subdeacon water, and before the celebrant mixes the water with the wine he blesses it in the prayer &quot; Deus qui humanae.&quot; He then takes the chalice, and having offered it (&quot; Offerimus tibi, Domine&quot;) places it upon the corporal and covers it with the pall. Slightly bowing over the altar, he then offers the prayer &quot;In spiritu humilitatis,&quot; and, lifting up his eyes and stretching out his hands, proceeds with &quot; Veni sanctificator. &quot; After blessing the incense (&quot;Per intercessionem beati Michaelis archangeli &quot;) he takes the thurible from the deacon and incenses the bread and wine and altar, and is afterwards himself incensed as well as the others in their order. Next going to the epistle side of the altar he washes his fingers as he recites the verses of the 26th Psalm beginning &quot; Lavabo.&quot; Returning and bowing before the middle of the altar, with joined hands he says, &quot;Suscipe, sancta Trinitas,&quot; then turning himself towards the people he raises his voice a little and says, &quot;Orate, fratres &quot; (&quot;that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty &quot;), the response to which is &quot; Suscipiat Dominus sacrih cium de manibus tuis,&quot; &c. He then recites the secret prayer or prayers, and at the end says, with an audible voice, &quot; Per omnia ssecula Sfeculorum &quot; (A . &quot;Amen&quot;). 4. Again saluting with a &quot; Dominus vobiscum,&quot; he lifts up his hands and goes on to the &quot; Sursum Corda &quot; and the rest of the Pre face. A different intonation is given for each of the prefaces. 5 At the Sanctus the handbell is rung. If there is a choir the Sanctus is sung while the celebrant goes on with the Canon. 6 After the words of consecration of the wafer, which are said &quot;secretly, dis tinctly, and attentively,&quot; the celebrant kneels and adores the host, rising elevates it, and replacing it on the corporal again 1 A form very similar to the present is given by Micrologus, and it is foreshadowed even in liturgical literature of the 8th century. - During Lent and Advent, and in masses for the dead, this is omitted. In low masses it is of course said, not sung (if it is to be said). It may be added that this early position of the Gloria in Excelsis is one of the features distinguishing Roman from Ephesine use. 3 The tract is peculiar to certain occasions, especially of a mournful nature, and is sung by a single voice. By a sequence is understood a more or less metrical composition, not in the words of Scripture, having a special bearing on the festival of the day. See, for example, the sequence, Lauda Sion Salvatorem, &quot; on Corpus Christ! day. 4 On certain days the Credo is omitted. 5 Now eleven ; they were at one time much more numerous. 6 The approved usage appears to be in that case that it is sung as far as &quot; Hosanna in Excelsis&quot; before the elevation, and &quot; Benedictus qui venit&quot; is reserved till afterwards. In France it was a very com mon custom, made general for a time at the request of Louis XII., to sing salutaris hostia &quot; at the elevation. adores it (the bell meanwhile being rung). 7 The same rite is observed when the chalice is consecrated. Immediately before the Lord s Prayer, at the words &quot; per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso,&quot; the sign of the cross is made three times over the chalice with the host, and towards the close of the &quot; embolism&quot; the fraction of the host takes place. After the words &quot; Pax Domini sit semper vobis cum &quot; the emission of the particle into the cup takes place with the words &quot;Ha;c commixtio et consecratio,&quot; &c. The celebrant then says the Agnus Dei three times. 5. While the choir sings the Agnus Dei and the Communion, the celebrant proceeds, still &quot; secrete,&quot; with the remainder of the office, which though printed as part of the canon is more conveniently called the Communion and Post-communion. After the prayer for the peace and unity of the church (&quot;Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti &quot;) he salutes the deacon with the kiss of peace, saying, &quot; Pax tecum &quot; ; the subdeacon is saluted in like manner, and then conveys the &quot; pax &quot; to the rest of the clergy who may be assisting. The cele brant then communicates under both species with suitable prayers and actions, and afterwards administers the sacrament to the other communicants if there be any. Then while the wine is poured into the cup for the first ablution he says, &quot;Quod ore sumpsimus &quot; ; having taken it he says, &quot; Corpus tuum, Domine.&quot; After the second ablution he goes to the book and reads the Communion. Then turn ing to the people with &quot; Dominus vobiscum &quot; he reads the Post- communion (one or more); turning once more to the congregation he uses the old dismissal formula &quot; Dominus vobiscum &quot; (A . Et cum spiritu tuo), and &quot; Ite, missa est &quot; [or &quot; Benedicamus Domino,&quot; in those masses from which &quot;Gloria in Excelsis&quot; has been omitted] (R. Deo Gratias). Bowing down before the altar he offers the prayer &quot;Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitas,&quot; then turning round he makes the sign of the cross over the congregation with the words of the benediction (&quot; Benedicat &quot;). 8 He then reads the passage from the gospel of John beginning with &quot;In principio erat Verbum,&quot; or else the proper gospel of the day. 9 (J. S. BL.) MISSIONS. The history of Christian missions may, for practical purposes, be best divided into three chief periods (1) the primitive, (2) the mediaeval, and (3) the modern. None of these periods can be neglected, for they have an intimate connexion with each other, and illustrate the activity respectively of individuals, of the church in her corporate capacity, and of societies. 1. The Primitive Period. Christian missions had their origin in the example and the command of our Lord Himself (Matt, xxviii. 1 9) ; and the unparalleled boldness on the part of the Founder of Christianity, which dared to anticipate for the Christian faith a succession of efforts which should never cease to cause its propagation to be undertaken as &quot;a distinct and direct work,&quot; has been justified by the voice of history. 10 Whereas other religions have spread from country to country as component parts of popular opinion, have travelled with migration or conquest, have passed in the train of things and by the usual channels of communica tion, the first foundations of the church had hardly been laid before individual missionary activity marked the life of each one of the circle of the apostles. Of the actual details of their labours we have been per mitted to know but little. Three only of the immediate followers of the Saviour have any conspicuous place in the apostolic records, and the most illustrious in the whole domain of missionary activity, St Paul, did not belong to the original twelve. His activity took the form of journeys and voyages, chiefly to large towns, where his message found a point of contact either with the Jewish synagogue or the aspirations of the Gentile world. The result of his labours and of those of his successors 7 The history of the practice of elevating the host is somewhat obscure. It seems to have arisen out of the custom of holding up the oblations, as mentioned in the Ordo Romanus (see above). The elevation of the host, as at present practised, was first enjoined by Pope Honorius III. The use of the handbell at the elevation is still later, and was first made general by Gregory XI. 8 The benediction is omitted in masses for the dead. 9 The reading of the passage from John on days which had not a proper gospel was first enjoined by Pius V. 10 Davison, On Prophecy, p. 278.